


Ink and Lightning

by morpheoMancer



Category: Sleepless Domain (Webcomic)
Genre: Former - Freeform, Gen, Grief, Magical Girls, tattooing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-13
Updated: 2021-01-13
Packaged: 2021-03-18 10:00:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28741398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morpheoMancer/pseuds/morpheoMancer
Summary: Peggy gets a new tattooing client.
Kudos: 6





	Ink and Lightning

**Author's Note:**

> https://archiveofourown.org/users/Goofypants/pseuds/Goofypants Goofypants fic, Dogs Don't Dream, inspired me to write this little ficlet after it featured a cameo of one of my characters.

The bell over the door rang, and Peggy jolted out of her doze.

“Fuck! Ah, sorry, you’re fine, I just-” Peggy babbled, continuing her curses inwardly at nearly nodding off again. She paused as she took in the stranger who’d arrived at her tattoo parlor. She was incredibly tall, with plain brown hair tied back in a ponytail and fierce grey eyes. She wore a black jacket with a yellow stripe down each arm and dark jeans. The outfit looked too new to belong to a resident of the Downs, but something about the way the woman carried herself told Peggy she hadn’t taken a wrong turn somewhere.

“You’re Needles, right? Someone at the gym pointed me in your direction.”

“Ah, yeah, that’s me. So, liked what you saw?” Peggy enjoyed the rush of a customer coming her way because they saw her work elsewhere; you couldn’t pay for that kind of advertisement.

“Yeah. I’m looking for something basic, but it would be going here.” The woman pointed to the cheek just beneath her right eye. “Can you do that?”

Peggy found her mood turn again, and she started to chew on her lip as she considered the difficulties. “I mean, technically, I can give it a shot, but facial tattoos are difficult… I really wouldn’t recommend it for someone’s first tattoo. Why not something on the arm-?”

The woman shook her said, and rummaged in a pocket before pulling out a scrap of paper.

“The position is important. Just… here. This is what I want.”

She offered the scrap of paper, which appeared to have been torn from some magical girl magazine. It featured an older-looking girl, probably close to aging out, with dark grey hair and a vivid lightning bolt mark just under her right eye…

And, with the woman right there, Peggy could not help but connect the dots between her and the picture.

“Oh. That’s you.” Peggy looked from the scrap of paper back up at the woman. “...That is you, right? Not just an uncanny resemblance to a younger sister?”

“It’s me.” The woman set the scrap of paper down on Peggy’s desk. “...The name’s Jane, if it matters. So… can you do it?”

Peggy felt a knot in her stomach. It was clear how important this was to Jane, even in so few words, but…

“Listen, I get where you’re coming from, but tattoos hurt, and if you flinch or jolt at the wrong time, a facial tattoo will go very wrong very fast, okay?”

Jane nodded. “I get it. I won’t move.”

Peggy sighed. “You say that, but-”

Jane suddenly loomed over Peggy, who became aware of just how ridiculously imposing Jane’s height was. What the hell were they feeding them at Future’s Promise?!

“I. Won’t. Move.” Jane’s voice never raised above a speaking level, but if Peggy hadn’t been sitting down she felt like she’d have been bowled over. Jane stepped over to the chair and took a seat. “If you can do the work, I’ll do my part to make sure it’s finished.”:

“...Also, you have to pay for it.” Peggy said weakly, still finding her breath. She lost it all over again as Jane dropped a fat stack of cash on the table next to the photo.

“Well?” Jane stared at her, and Peggy sighed.

“Fine. But with the catch that I do a short line on your arm first so that you at least have an idea of what you’re getting into.” To Peggy’s relief, Jane nodded in agreement. Peggy began to prepare her tools, keeping half an eye on her new, rather intense client.

\---

Peggy had seen some of the toughest, meanest bastards of the Downs get into that chair and end up crying their eyes out over a basic arm tattoo. It was rather unnerving that Jane didn’t so much as flinch.

There had been a couple breathless moments as Peggy had applied the tattoo beneath Jane’s eye. Jane’s expression didn’t change once, although Peggy could tell her eyes watered on one or two occasions. It was only once Peggy had finished her work and given Jane a chance to observe in the mirror that Jane seemed to breath again.

“Now, you’re going to have to avoid touching it for a while. When it’s healed enough for you to wash, make sure you use plain soap. There’s a couple kinds of lotion you can use to keep it from drying out.” Peggy paused to examine Jane’s face. “...How’s it feel?”

“...Hurts. But it’s good.” Jane’s expression finally shifted slightly. She seemed… relieved.

“...Y’know, I’ve heard about other former magical girls getting tattoos of their sigils…” Peggy said by way of conversation, still filled with curiosity about Jane’s decision.

“...I dunno about the rest of them.” Jane’s hand clenched as she stared at the window.

“...I just… I don’t want to let those years drift away from me.”


End file.
